Bloomberg reports that unless some U.S. Senate members change their minds, Senator Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) move to ban at least 157 rifles, pistols, shotguns and semi-automatic weapons, will not pass the Senate, and there is startling news that gun-toting Senator Joe Manchin is in favor of a universal background check. We haven’t registered our First Amendment Rights, so why should we register our Second Amendment Rights?

Senator Joe Manchin

At least six of the 55 senators who caucus with Democrats have recently expressed skepticism or outright opposition to a ban, the review found. That means Democrats wouldn’t have a simple 51-vote majority to pass the measure, let alone the 60 votes needed to break a Republican filibuster to bring it to a floor vote…

The five Democratic senators from traditionally pro-gun states who have recently expressed skepticism about the bill are Max Baucus and Jon Tester of Montana, Mark Begich of Alaska, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Independent Senator Angus King of Maine, who is caucusing with Democrats, also said he opposes a ban. Source: Bloomberg

Once the universal background check starts, it’s only a matter of time until a database of legal gun owners becomes a reality. One more rude intrusion into the privacy rights of law abiding citizens – the sharp and often-lasting sting of unintended consequences, or are the eventual consequences unintended?

To repeat this one more time, commentators and news orgs are prematurely writing the obituary for Obama’s gun package based solely on the fact that the assault weapons ban faces an uphill struggle in Congress. It undoubtedly does. But the assault ban is not the centerpiece of Obama’s proposal; improving the background check system is. If Obama gets just the latter and some other provisions — minus the assault ban — it is still a major achievement. We now have Manchin on board, and even Republicans like GOP Rep. Phil Gingrey and Senator Chuck Grassley have signaled openness to it. It wouldn’t be surprising if we saw more movement in the days ahead. Source: Washington Post